The 6 Best Books About Mental Health

June 2016 marked the start of our huge mental health campaign, Mend The Gap. In it, we had Stephen Fry championing the work done by Mind, Alastair Campbell discussing the need for instant and far-reaching reform and Ricky Hatton talking about how even a Hitman can try to end his own life.

Now, 2017 sees MH's Mend The Gap take to a new level, with an eye-opening survey of 15,000 readers detailing the country's mental health habits and new ambassadors — including Professor Green — spearheading the movement. You can find the results and discussion in the November 2017 issue of Men's Health UK.

What's more, with reading proven to increase empathy and – according to a study by Sussex University – reduce stress by up to 68%, we thought it was hightime we published a run-down of the best books on mental health, each insightful, enlightening and available in a book shop near you.

1. Let Me Be Frank by Frank Bruno

Frank’s new book is the truthful and definitive account of the care he received after he was sectioned twice in the space of six weeks in 2012. Frank speaks openly about the treatment he received in Basildon Hospital and St Andrew’s and the failures that he believes he suffered at the hands of doctors. But, Frank came through his illness, has rebuilt his life and has and restored the relationship with his family after they made the decision to call in doctors against his wishes.Frank tells of the new fight he has now embarked on to try and help people with conditions like the one he suffers from.

He also tells of the heartbreak of recently losing his mum, who was a tower of strength in the darkest days. Frank’s book also sees him reflect on having to say goodbye to two of the people who had the biggest impact on his career: his idol Muhammed Ali and beloved friend Harry Carpenter.

Frank also speaks about his belief that boxing needs to do more to support fighters who develop mental health problems in the ring – and reveals how he is in the process of setting up a foundation to help use non-contact sport to rescue people from their illnesses.

2. War And Peace: My Story by Ricky Hatton

Even the most casual of boxing fans is aware of Ricky Hatton’s reputation as a motormouth. Because of this and his straightforward narration style, reading Hatton’s account of his rise and fall withing the world of pugilism feels a bit like having the former welterweight champion sitting next to you on the tube, whispering in your ear. And it’s strangely comforting. “I didn’t care when I got hit down by Pacquiao. I though my career was over,” Hatton told MH in his Hyde boxing gym. “I didn’t care if I lived or died.” Touching on the depression wrapped around him following his fight with Floyd Mayweather and brought him to the brink of suicide on more than one occasion, the book is vivid proof that even a Hitman can buckle under pressure. And it beats a soppy BBC costume drama any day of the week.

£8.99 (Pan)

3. Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig

The Sheffield-born novelist made his name with young adult staples The Humans and The Radleys, but his first non-fiction book, last year’s Reasons To Stay Alive was undoubably his most personal. “It’s something I thought I should write and I wanted to write,” Haig told MH over the phone from his Brighton home. “The therapeutic thing for me about having written it is that you realise just how common mental health problems are. It helps that you could just hand [the book] to someone and say ‘Hopefully this will help you understand what I’m going through.’” With a quick Twitter search of the title revealing countless screenshots of readers’ favourite underlined passages, it’s clear for many people, the reasons to keep pushing on are becoming brighter than ever.

£7.99 (Cannongate Books)

4. Anxiety For Beginners by Eleanor Morgan

Roping in psychiatrists, neurologists and genetecists, this memoir-come-investigation by journalist Elanor Morgan explores the impact of anxiety disorder on those suffering both directly and by proxy. And with chapters titled ‘Two Lites Of Pus’ and ‘A Total Fucker’ the book leaves straight-faced stoicism at the door for a read that’s as funny as it is eye-opening. “If anxiety has ‘given’ me anything it’s an increased awareness of judgment and other people’s emotions,” Morgan writes, “as well as a fascination with the exciting, perplexing spectrums of the human mind.”

£14.99 (Bluebird)

5. Hard Yards by Michael Yardy

It may not be up there with football or boxing in terms of glamour, but the rigorous travelling and inter-conternental slogs intrinsict to playing cricket at the highest level have seen more than one batsman buckle under the pressure. In the current issue of the former England and Sussex all-rounder opens up about the struggles that brought his international career to an end and how he’s slowly finding peace. His new book, published last May, delves into the highs and lows of a cricketing icon.

£18.99 (Pitch Publishers)

6. My Age Of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread and the Search for Peace of Mind by Scott Stossel

The Atlantic editor Scott Stossel has written before about anxiety so crippling it cause him to break down during job interviews, walk out of exams and sweat through his wedding suit – as well as the physical discomforts this problems can transmute into. What his book offers is an insight on growing up at a time when anxiety simply did not exist as a medical condition to an epxloration of coping – and finding success – with the very human toll of mental illness.

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